Leipzig secures a place in the round of 16 in Belgrade – Simons and Openda meet

PSG loses at Milan

Matriculation exam passed, round of 16 reached: RB Leipzig was not impressed by the heated atmosphere in the Marakana in Belgrade and is in the knockout round of the Champions League for the first time. Xavi Simons (8th minute) and Lois Openda (77th) scored for the guests in a 2-1 (1-0) duel with Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday evening. The goal (81st) after a cross from Guélor Kanga that was deflected by Benjamin Henrichs ensured tension until the end. Because defending champions Manchester City won against BSC Young Boys at the same time, Leipzig is already one round after four of six group games and cheered in the pouring rain with around 500 fans who had traveled with them.

Belgrade’s fitness trainer Nikola Todoric was shown a red card after 20 minutes after he intercepted the rushing Lois Openda in front of the bench. It was initially unclear whether there was a verbal argument or whether, in the referee’s opinion, he had held Openda’s arm longer than necessary in front of the 41,961 spectators.

By this point, Leipzig had long since taken control and was making good use of the available space. There was no sign of the hosts’ announced compact defense. After two recent defeats without a goal of their own against Wolfsburg and Mainz, the early lead thanks to Xavi’s remarkable goal did the Leipzig team a lot of good. The exceptional talent drove the ball into the penalty area himself and then shot it into the far corner with great feeling and skill. Omri Glazer, who was outstanding in the hosts’ goal in the first leg, stretched in vain.

As in the first leg, however, Leipzig slowed down after taking the early lead. The next chance only came with a deflected shot from Openda (41′). Nevertheless, the guests should have increased before the break. First, Openda failed to get past Glazer (44′) after a bad pass from his opponent. Shortly afterwards, captain Emil Forsberg finished in the penalty area and put the ball next to the goal from a good eleven meters. The Swede had not been in the starting line-up three times in a row, and Christoph Baumgartner had to go to the bench to replace him.

The first clear chance after the break also went unused. Benjamin Sesko put the ball flat against the post from outside the penalty area (51′). Coach Marco Rose then gestured with his arms while standing on the sideline and encouraged his team to continue playing forward. Seconds later, Openda’s backheel attempt was denied by goalkeeper Glazer (53′), who kept the Serbs, who were second in the domestic league behind Partizan Belgrade, in the game.

As the game wore on and the rain became increasingly heavy, Rose changed his offensive orientation and brought on Lukas Klostermann for Seko and Baumgartner for Forsberg. Defensively, Leipzig now played with a five-man chain when Red Star had the ball – but was unable to prevent the hosts’ best chance. RB keeper Janis Blaswich had to react exceptionally twice within seconds when first Peter Olayinka and then Cherif Ndiaye fired at his goal from close range.

Leipzig still stayed cool and took advantage of the first good counterattack opportunity to make it 2-0. Xaver Schlager sent Openda on his way with a wonderful pass and the 23-year-old made the victory and the round of 16 seemingly perfect with a shot into the near corner before the follow-up goal in the 81st minute caused a lot of excitement again. Glaswich had to react really strongly again in stoppage time.

Champions League: Paris loses in Milan, Atlético turns up the heat

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain missed a big step towards the knockout round with the 1:2 (1:1) defeat at AC Milan – instead, Borussia Dortmund is now leader of Group F. Milan Skriniar (9th) had Paris initially brought into the lead. But then Rafael Leão (12th) and Olivier Giroud (50th) turned the entertaining game in favor of the hosts.

Atlético Madrid is also on course for the knockout rounds after their 6-0 (2-0) win against Celtic Glasgow. Antoine Griezmann (6th/60th), Álvaro Morata (45th+2/76th), Samuel Lino (66th) and Saúl Ñíguez (85th) scored. However, the guests had to act outnumbered early on because Daizen Maeda (23′) had seen red.

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